The perpetration of violent crimes by our youth is a major societal concern and understanding the factors that predispose them to aggressive behavior is of the utmost importance. Therefore, research aimed at identifying risk factors of aggression among high-risk youth are needed for the purpose of informing future intervention strategies. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate cognitive risk factors that have been theorized and shown to play a contributory role in the development of... Show moreThe perpetration of violent crimes by our youth is a major societal concern and understanding the factors that predispose them to aggressive behavior is of the utmost importance. Therefore, research aimed at identifying risk factors of aggression among high-risk youth are needed for the purpose of informing future intervention strategies. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate cognitive risk factors that have been theorized and shown to play a contributory role in the development of aggression for less severe populations in a sample of male juvenile offenders (N = 119). More specifically, this study investigated the prediction of aggression and related antisocial behavior from youths' self-views (i.e., self-esteem, inflated self-perceptions) and an emotion regulation strategy (i.e., anger rumination) while taking into account personality factors (i.e., narcissism, trait anger) that have also been linked to aggression and share conceptual overlap with these constructs of interest. An evaluation of the psychometric properties of the study measures tapping these constructs provided evidence that these variables could be reliably and validly assessed among a sample of juvenile offenders. Most importantly, anger rumination, anger, self-esteem, and maladaptive narcissism were revealed as significant predictors of juvenile offenders' initial levels of aggression and developmental trajectories of aggression across a four month period. The implications of these findings are discussed. Show less

Date Issued

2012

Identifier

FSU_migr_etd-5190

Format

Thesis

Title

The Relationship Between Anger Rumination and Aggression in Childhood.

The tendency to ruminate to anger has been hypothesized to be linked to the development, exacerbation and maintenance of aggression. Some studies have established that a relationship between anger rumination and aggression exists in adults, however, no studies have been conducted in a sample of children. The goal of this study was to explore the construct of anger rumination in childhood and to establish its concurrent and predictive relationship with aggression. In addition, sex and... Show moreThe tendency to ruminate to anger has been hypothesized to be linked to the development, exacerbation and maintenance of aggression. Some studies have established that a relationship between anger rumination and aggression exists in adults, however, no studies have been conducted in a sample of children. The goal of this study was to explore the construct of anger rumination in childhood and to establish its concurrent and predictive relationship with aggression. In addition, sex and developmental differences in the tendency to ruminate to anger and in the relationship of anger rumination to aggression were explored. Adapting an anger rumination measure used in adult samples yielded a measure for children that was demonstrated to be reliable and valid in this sample. Results revealed a concurrent relationship between anger rumination and aggression as well as some support for a predictive relationship between anger rumination and overt aggression. Results offer mixed support for the hypothesis that boys ruminate to anger more than girls. Study limitations and future directions for research are discussed. Show less